Ben Kingsley, Mindy Kaling & Lucy Boynton join Doug Liman’s heist thriller

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a major part of our lives, and even when things begin to return to some form of normalcy, the current crisis will be kept alive by a string of pandemic-themed movies and TV shows. One of those projects is LOCKDOWN, a heist thriller/romantic comedy slated to be directed by Doug Liman and scripted by Steven Knight, and Deadline has reported that Mindy Kaling, Ben Kingsley, and Lucy Boynton have joined the cast of LOCKDOWN.

The film is already set to star Anne Hathaway, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ben Stiller, Stephen Merchant, Dule Hill, Jazmyn Simon, and Mark Gatiss. Set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, LOCKDOWN follows a sparring couple, Linda (Hathaway) and Paxton (Ejiofor), who call a truce to attempt a high-risk, high-stakes jewelry heist at the world’s most exclusive department store, Harrods. The iconic London landmark has also granted its glamorous backdrop exclusively to the production.

Speaking of Doug Liman, itt was announced earlier this year that Tom Cruise and Liman would be partnering with Elon Musk's Space X and NASA to shoot a film in outer-space on the International Space Station. Universal Pictures has coughed up $200 million to get the project off the ground, but there's still plenty of planning to be done before Cruise heads off to the final frontier. As for when Cruise and Liman will be risking life and limb, they're tentatively scheduled to take off in October 2021.